Many manga readers consider their favorite series getting an anime adaptation a big deal. Most get excited about it, but plenty of readers are rightfully skeptical about the end result. Series like My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Naruto were faithful to their source materials, but not every great manga had the same fate.
Some adaptations are polluted with anime original storylines or dreaded filler episodes. Others stick to the source material, but poor artistic choices and bad CGI can cheapen the viewers' experience. Unfortunately, some of the most popular manga series received some of the most disappointing anime adaptations.
10 Junji Ito's Work Was Butchered In The Anime Adaptation
Junji Ito Collection
Avid fans of Junji Ito's work were devastated by its anime adaptation. Many of his most iconic manga panels were watered down into plain old edgelord artistry. Junji Ito's work is infamous for preying upon the readers' most invasive phobias and fears by bringing them into the limelight through his work.
Unfortunately, the anime adaptation couldn't give his work the treatment it deserved. It didn't evoke any of the same emotions in the viewers as the manga. Not every manga needs an anime adaptation, and The Junji Ito Collection is proof.
9 Pandora Hearts Diverged From The Manga
Pandora Hearts
The Pandora Hearts anime adaptation severely disappointed dedicated manga readers. Many expected the adaptation to have the same visual appeal as the manga but were disappointed by its art style. Fans also didn't appreciate that Pandora Hearts ended with an anime-original storyline, and some even argue that the series wouldn't make sense without reading the manga.
Though it's not the worst anime adaptation of all time, the Pandora Hearts anime failed to live up to the manga's hype. Many fans still hope that Pandora Hearts receives a reboot somewhere down the line.
8 Bleach Has Too Many Filler Episodes
Bleach
Bleach's anime adaptation is far from awful. Mostly, it sticks to the source material and perfectly recreates some of the manga's best scenes. However, one of the Bleach anime's most significant flaws is its oversaturation of filler episodes.
Bleach has 366 episodes, but 164 are filler. Since that takes up nearly half of the series, fans expressed frustration that the Bleach anime couldn't just omit the filler and focus on the plot. Though other shonen series like One Piece, Naruto, and My Hero Academia include filler episodes, there are not nearly as many, so they don't get in the way of the story.
7 Soul Eater's Anime Original Plotline Failed To Impress
Soul Eater
Soul Eater could have been an excellent anime, but its anime-original plotline derailed the entire story and disappointed manga readers. Many regard filler episodes as the cardinal sin of anime, but anime-original plotlines are much more burdensome.
Soul Eater's source material was engaging, immersive, and entertaining to read. Soul Eater's anime adaptation took a great story and brought it out somewhere in left field, but it definitely wasn't a home run. To this day, Soul Eater fans still hope that it gets the reboot it deserves.
6 Claymore Left Out Important Pieces Of Information
Claymore
Claymore could have been one of the greatest series of its time, but the anime's ending left a sour taste in viewers' mouths. Manga readers were particularly unhappy that it didn't adhere to the original ending and threw in a brand-new ending that made no sense with the rest of the story.
Though viewers were pleased that Claymore's anime stuck with the manga's unique art style, the plot derailment was unforgivable for most. The adaptation omitted important pieces of information that were important to understanding Claymore's worldbuilding and important events were sacrificed for shock value action sequences.
5 Rosario + Vampire Watered Down Its Characters
Rosario + Vampire
When a studio picks up a manga to adapt into an anime series, the least they could do is get the characters' personalities right. Even some of the most disappointing adaptations can nail certain characters' habits, mannerisms, and personality quirks that set them apart from the rest.
Unfortunately, Rosario + Vampire's anime couldn't even get that right. Fans were ecstatic when its adaptation was announced, but everybody's excitement disappeared when it actually aired. Fan-favorite characters were watered down and made virtually unrecognizable. Rosario + Vampire's anime also added original plot elements that weren't conducive in the slightest.
4 Deadman Wonderland Could've Been A Phenomenal Horror Anime
Deadman Wonderland
Deadman Wonderland has an exciting premise that gave it the potential to become one of anime's most terrifying death game series. Unfortunately, the adaptation dropped the ball and disappointed manga readers. Deadman Wonderland's trademark gory visuals and horror elements for generic shock value are what made it mind-numbingly predictable.
However, that's not even Deadman Wonderland's worst offense. Important characters and plot developments were entirely omitted. Deadman Wonderland could have been great if it adhered to the source material, but it just turned into a butchered disaster.
3 Berserk's Modern Anime Adaptation Misrepresented Kentaro Miura's Artistry
Berserk (2016)
Berserk's anime adaptation from the '90s was top tier, but the modern edition is bottom of the barrel at best. Kentaro Miura is one of the most influential mangakas of all time, and his artistry inspired hundreds of other series. Unfortunately, the modern anime just doesn't hold up to his standards and butchered his work.
Berserk's modern adaptation included CGI and 3D models. If it were done correctly, it could have made for some pretty epic visuals and enhanced the gritty visuals. Unfortunately, it just turned one of the darkest seinen series of all time into an aesthetic nightmare.
2 Black Butler's Anime Was Full Of Continuity Errors & Nonsensical Developments
Black Butler
Most fans of Black Butler recommend that new fans just avoid the anime entirely and stick to reading the manga. The second season was basically a collection of filler episodes that weren't meaningful additions to the plot and the third season reverts back to canonical events without any real explanation of what happened.
Black Butler's first season was excellent, but even anime-only viewers agree that anything past it is just hard to follow. The second season is the most glaringly obvious flaw with the adaptation, and fans are unsure about why the producers took such a risk that didn't pay off.
1 Tokyo Ghoul's Anime Adaptation Seriously Dropped The Ball
Tokyo Ghoul
On social media, it's become somewhat of a meme to compare a panel from Tokyo Ghoul's manga to one from the anime and tell others to imagine if the series had been handled by MAPPA instead of Studio Pierrot. Tokyo Ghoul's anime omitted some of the manga's most terrifying, bloody horror visuals for more simplistic scenes that disappointed manga readers.
Fans were also displeased with the omission of important plot events and outraged with the nonsense they were replaced with. The differences between Tokyo Ghoul's manga and anime are instantly noticeable, and fans are still disappointed today. Many hope that Tokyo Ghoul eventually gets a reboot.